Zee Media Bureau
Washington: Researchers have revealed how the Ebola virus blocks body's antiviral defenses in a new study, providing important insight that could lead to new therapies in treating the deadly disease.
In a research performed at Beamline 19ID at Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, the researchers developed a detailed map of how a non-pathogenic Ebola protein, VP24, binds to a host protein that takes signalling molecules in and out of the cell nucleus.
Their map revealed that the viral protein takes away the host protein's ability to carry an important immune signal into the nucleus.
This signal helps activate the immune system's antiviral defenses, and blocking it is believed to contribute significantly to the virus's deadliness.
The research is published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.
According to WHO and as of August 26, the disease has killed a total of 1,552 people and infected 3,062.
(With ANI Inputs)
